Fiat has exported cars for USD 5.2bn since its arrival in Serbia – Sales fell in 2015

(Photo: fiatgroupautomobilespress.com)

Sales of the Fiat 500L fell by around 30% last year according to data on passenger vehicle export from the Republic Statistical Office. An incipient market saturation has seen the second year in a row of falling sales, with 2014 sales 10% lower than in 2013.

The statistics show that last year`s Serbian vehicle exports were worth USD 1.3bn against the previous year`s export value of USD 1.78bn. Just one year earlier, exports from Serbia reached their zenith of USD 1.94bn. Fiat began production in Serbia in 2012 when the export of passenger vehicles registered a huge jump of 672% compared with 2011.

Data on the number of exported passenger vehicles may be taken as a rough measure of Fiat`s exports from Serbia, as the 500L model is the only one produced in our country. Before production of the Serbian “Ficha” started, our car exports made up only 4% of all exports in 2015, making this percentage no more than a margin of error in the calculation. The Statistical Office does not provide concrete data on the 500L and nor has Fiat given precise sales data.

If we sum up figures for the export of passenger cars from 2012 to 2015 and assume that export of other models than the 500L has remained at the same level as in 2011, we come to the conclusion that for its entire production time in Krgujevac Fiat has exported vehicles to a value of approximately USD 5.2bn.

For countries like Serbia these are impressive figures, but we must remember that these are gross export sums. To see the real picture of how much Fiat has contributed to Serbian exports, imports should be subtracted. And Fiat imports a lot.

The statistics show that roughly calculated about 70% of the value of the Kraagujevac “Ficha” is imported, and only 30% originates in Serbia.

When we look at how the import of auto parts to Serbia fluctuates, we see that it clearly reflects the movement of exports of finished cars. In each of the last three years, the period of stable production of the 500L model, the import of car parts lay at about 80% of the value of car exports from Serbia.

This still does not mean that Fiat imports up to 80% of the value of their cars, as some car parts are imported for the needs of regular repair and service of cars on the roads of Serbia. Since there are no separate statistics for Fiat`s and other imports, the best indicator is the level of auto parts imports at the time before the Italian car maker came to Kragujevac and began preparations for future production.

The contract with Fiat was signed in the second half of 2008, when Serbia`s import of auto parts had a value of around USD 1.3m. Last year, exports topped a billion.

So, when we subtract from the 80-85% total imports of passenger car parts to Serbia the 10-15% assigned to non-Fiat import, we get a rough figure of 70% of imported parts in the total price of each exported Fiat 500L.

So if the total gross export of the Fiat 500L was around USD 5.2bn, the net exports – the “real” exports – was around USD 1.6bn for the whole period of production of this model.

As there are still no precise figures from the factory itself or from the Serbian government, this is the closest indicator so far of both sales and the part of the value of the Fiat 500L that remains in Serbia.

Translation provided by: www.halifax-translation.com